This site provides many rubrics for assessing portfolios, cooperative projects, oral presentations, and much more. Quick links lead to different categories such as web 2.0 and content areas of math, art, and science. Each rubric is in a table form with criteria listed vertically and rating categories are horizontal, all contain well-defined expectations and explanations of each category of scoring. Be sure to check out the section with rubrics for primary grades including a kindergarten writing rubric and rubrics for teamwork. Print any of the rubrics using the PDF link located near the top of the page.

At a loss for a new password? Use this simple online tool to make easy-to-remember passwords that offer decent security and are safe. Answer a few quick questions such as your name, a special word, and date that has significance to you. Click "Create Password" and PasswordBird creates a one of a kind password for you. Note: These passwords may not be unbreakable but do offer a level of security better than using the same passwords over and over or using exact words and numbers.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this tool to generate passwords for tools being used in class by you or your students. Be sure to keep a record of the passwords generated for students for access when they forget (we do too!) Create passwords for class logins used by a number of students. Share this link on your class web page for students (and parents) to use, too!

This interactive map project shows the population growth and decline, changes in racial and ethnic concentrations, and patterns of housing development in the U.S., based on information from the Census Bureau's 2010 survey. The map is zoomable so that you can view neighborhoods delineated by specific streets or zip codes.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects and organization including making assumptions about neighborhood breakdowns, relationship to poverty levels, effects of industrialization and assumptions about why certain areas had an increase or decrease in population.

This installment in the Help I lost my library/media specialist series offers a step by step approach to a research unit, written by an experienced elementary library/media specialist. Although nothing can replace the specialized knowledge of a teacher-librarian, this plan includes everything from pre-planning to sharing an assessing products. There are different resources and ideas for primary, upper elementary, and middle school grades. It is almost like having your helpful library/media specialist working along with you!

In the Classroom

Mark this one in your Favorites for use when planning you next major research project. The resources and ideas will help every student be successful. Adapt for weaker readers by using resources or ideas from lower grades.

This readaloud collection is part of theHelp I lost my library/media specialist series, written by an experienced elementary library/media specialist. Although nothing can replace the specialized knowledge of a teacher-librarian, this collection of biographies to read aloud and accompanying activities will teach information literacy skills about what biographies are while exciting students to read some on their own. If your library does not have the books you want from this list, try using the ISBN numbers to borrow them on interlibrary loan from a public library nearby.

Teach, learn and collaborate easily with this multi-user whiteboard. Everything that is drawn or written on the whiteboard is visible to all participants in real-time. IDroo supports an unlimited number of meeting participants, the only limitations are computer power and internet connection speed. There is a professional math typing tool built-in making it easy to teach or work through math problems collaboratively. IDroo is integrated with Skype to enhance the online collaboration experience. Currently it only works on Windows systems and requires a software download.

In the Classroom

IDroo would be great for any online collaboration session with other classrooms, teachers, or virtual classroom visitors. Use this to tutor students virtually by setting up a time for online work sessions.

Create crossword puzzles quickly and easily with this fast and free site. Crosswords can easily be customized with settings within the program. Advanced users can fine-tune the settings to the way they like them, everything from the positioning of the first few words to how important it is to have a compact puzzle. To get started, download the software and install on your computer (be sure to follow school rules regarding download and installation of software if using school computers). Next, input your list of words and clues, then create your puzzle. Once created, you can print puzzles, save it as a web page, or choose from different types of interactive pages that your visitors can play right in their web browser, without installing new software.

In the Classroom

Create puzzles for any subject or topic for review or introduction to new materials. Allow students to create puzzles for other students to solve. Add a puzzle to your classroom newsletter or blog to create interest. Share puzzles on your interactive whiteboard for students to solve together.

Discover a nice collection of source for public domain and copyright free images from around the web. This Livebinders site features a wonderful array of images and photos on a variety of topics.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

When looking for copyright free materials for use in projects or to place on websites, begin your search here. Be sure to keep a link to this site on your wiki, blog, or web page for students to use whenever they are working on a project.

Interested in using QR codes in an engaging way? Try this Treasure Hunt Generator that uses QR codes. It's simple. Enter your questions and answers. Then click Create the QR Challenge. These are generated as text files which can be printed and posted wherever you want. Students use a QR reader (such as on iTouches, iPads, or phones) to scan and open the question and directions. Students then continue on by finding and answering the questions.

Note: QR code readers exist for every type of phone and are easily found on the Internet. For computers, add-ons exist for Firefox and Chrome as well as a desktop application from Adobe.

In the Classroom

Use to make any class content into a treasure hunt for knowledge. Keep students engaged by creating learning centers that have a question requiring an answer and perhaps another activity at the center before going on to the next. Have students learn and answer questions about mystery objects, art prints, or books/authors with accompanying QR codes. Identify trees by creating a QR code with a question about the tree and perhaps another link taking them to specific information. Create a scavenger hunt around the school asking questions about activities in the school or certain student projects found in showcases. (The first QR code could be printed in the school newsletter.) Create a treasure hunt with books in the library to test library search skills or to find a specific book and answer questions from the index, table of contents, etc. Use QR codes on objects in Geometry to ask questions about the shapes or solve a problem based on a physical object. Any subject area and content could find a use for this Treasure Hunt Generator. Challenge students to create their own QR treasure hunts as a way to "present" research projects. Use in social studies for the entire class to create a QR code hunt around your community to bring local history to life for all residents.

Enter your classroom into the digital age with AudioBoom's audio digital archive and sharing device. Use an iPhone, Android, or PC to record high-quality soundtracks easily. Along with the sound recording, a map shows the who, where, and when of the recording. Use AudioBoom with social networking sites, embed into a website or use as a full podcast. If sharing an already created AudiBoom, please preview first. While this site CAN be used with all grades, some of the already created Audibooms are only appropriate for high school students. This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Jazz up your curriculum with sound. Invigorate debates, interviews, reporting, or interviewing with expression and passion. Easily record and share Readers Theater and storytelling with your class, other classes, or even parents. Add personal narratives from students' reports on historical figures, scientists, or community leaders. Add a further dimension into author studies with audio requests using AudioBoom. Autobiographies and biographies can include a much-needed sound component. Blogs, podcasts, and websites easily support these recordings. ESL/ELL teachers might be interested in using this to record their students reading or in conversations and play it back for them so they can critique how well they are doing, or where they need improvement.

SoundCloud is a sound sharing site. Upload your favorite sounds and share using your sound cloud free account. Share via a link or a choice of embed widgets to add into a website, blog, podcast, Wordpress, email, instant message, or social network. You can choose to use previously recorded sounds or record your own sounds using this site. Share the sounds on the web, with your group, or privately between users. Use your drop box to receive recorded material from others.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Add the dimension of sound into your language arts classes with SoundCloud! Turn written stories or poetry into works of spoken art. Use SoundCloud recordings of places such as; the city, the forest, the beach, or a cafeteria to bring settings to life. Make and share audio writing prompts. Challenge students to create their own story using sounds. Add sound into projects such as webquests, PowerPoints, podcasts, or blogging to hear the results! Emphasize important messages to your parent or student emails using sound. What a practical solution for ESL/ELL learners. Record and share poetry readings during Poetry Month. Save quarterly recordings of speech articulation students s they can hear their own progress (and you can share it with parents). Check school policies, of course, before uploading any student recordings to the web. Instrumental music teachers can share clips of musical pieces for students to emulate during at-home practice.

Find useful, interactive whiteboard resources, downloads, and lesson ideas (aimed at the elementary levels). These resources are divided into categories such as Flashcards, Scorers, Interactive Stuff, Time Killers and the Lab. Each of the resources can be downloaded or accessed directly from the site by clicking the image next to the title. They will run on computers or any brand of interactive whiteboard or projector. Flashcard sets include handwriting practice, number practice, the Verbinator, mysteries, flags of the world, and more. Scorers are different forms of scoreboards use keeping track of game play. The Lab section is a very nice interactive demonstrating proper formation of letters in block, basic, or cursive script. Click on the color link on this page to break each of the letters into colored sections to help visualize the proper letter formation. Be sure to check out the interactive clock and dice located under Interactive Stuff. This site appears to be updated often, so be sure to check back. The downloads are JAVA applets that can run offline. Unfortunately, the activities do not work on iOs devices like iPads.

In the Classroom

Display the handwriting flashcards on your interactive whiteboard as a student-operated center to practice letter writing skills. Choose random letters, and have students make a list of words beginning with that letter. The What's This activity would be great vocabulary practice for ELL students or speech/language students. Use the Timekillers on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for a quick 5 or 10 minute class or center activity.

IndyKids is an online newspaper for kids. This online version is the same as the printable version that produces 10,000 copies of each issue, reaching kids in 36 states of the US. Articles are written by both kids and adults, featuring topics related to current events and topics of interest to kids. Articles written by kids are noted as such and include the writer's age. At the time of this review, some of the "kid written articles" included Growing Poverty: Hard to Ignore At Home, Wasps: Do I Know You, and several others. Be sure to check out the category search on the lower right-hand portion of the site with topics such as: Kids Around the World, Culture and Activism, Education, and much more. Newspapers are archived in PDF format for easy printing and dated back several years.

In the Classroom

Share this site with students and have students choose an article to read, summarize, or expand upon. After reading articles on the site, have students choose a current topic that interests them and have them write an article as practice of informational writing. In science or social studies, study the newspaper format as students write articles reporting on scientific discoveries or famous people. Use the format of this newsletter as a resource for creating and publishing your own classroom newsletter online. During newspapers in education month, use this site to findaccessible articles for any age. Create a newspaper using a site such as Zinepal (reviewed here). Click to "Start with a blank e-Book."

Wridea is an idea management, brainstorming, and collaboration tool. It's a place to organize and categorize your ideas, share them with others for input, and store them. To collaborate using this tool, you must have individual memberships (email required). Note that maps that are shared can be seen by the public, but not altered. You specify the members who may collaborate and make alterations. At this time, this site does not work properly in Internet Explorer. However, it is a great tool to use in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or other browsers.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate the activity on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and then allow students to create their own Wridea tool. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics. Have students collaborate together (online) to create group study guides or review charts before a test. Have students use Wridea as a study guide by brainstorming all the important concepts they remember about the unit being studied in history or science, and then have them share their Wridea with another student who will add concepts that were left out. Build student creative fluency by having them use Wridea to create categories of wonder, question, and answers for research; map out a story or plot line, or map out a step-by-step process (life cycle); map a real historical event as a choose-your-own-adventure with alternate endings based on pivotal points.

Comments

This resources looks like it has a wide variety of applications suitable to upper elementary and secondary classrooms. Sign up was quick and easy, but I received a message upon completing those steps that Wridea doesn't support Internet Explorer. It "suggested" using Mozilla Firefox instead. I'm a strong advocate for being comfortable with using several browsers, so, this doesn't throw up any huge roadblocks to me, but if you do not have or use Firefox, you will need to take that extra step as well before actually making use of this tool.

Editor's Note: the review has been updated to reflect this new information.Rita, WA, Grades: 6 - 12

Tricider is an exciting tool to help people brainstorm and make decisions. You put a question in the appropriate box and then select who is eligible to comment and vote. Invite people to join in making decisions via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Options include setting a time limit, or closing down the question or discussion. There is no registration required, and the site is completely free.

In the Classroom

Introduce Tricider on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site to develop arguments sides for an upcoming debate or persuasive writing assignment. Promote higher level thinking by asking students to brainstorm options and set criteria to choose. Build mental flexibility as they see alternate points of view on an issue. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects, decision making, and organization.

If you have students create book ads in your class, or projects, your students can vote on which book they want to read next or which project they would like to investigate further, etc. Teachers can also use Tricider to survey students about what resources on your website are the best, what further explanation they may need about a unit in math or science, which project students would like to do as a summative assessment, or ways to encourage "green" practices in your community. Be sure to have your students use a code or number instead of an actual name.

Apply for one of these school supply grants offered annually by Elmer's so they can do one or more of the projects in the "catalog" of ideas Elmer's offers. All certified K-12 teachers are eligible, though priority is given to first year teachers. Read the criteria and click to download the grant application. The application cycle appears to open in Feb-April for funding the following school year. The catalog of ideas offers downloadable pdfs for many subjects and grades.

In the Classroom

Explore the many crafts, center, and curriculum project ideas for many subjects. Many are offered for grades K-8 and a few for high school. Then apply for a grant for the coming school year. You might also enjoy simply browsing for good craft and curriculum project ideas, even if you do not seek a grant.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. Browse the site without registration. Type Edu in the search bar, and find an Education area with menu tabs like Science, Elementary, English, Higher, STEM, and more. Images have a short caption; clicking on a picture gives the option to Repin or Like. To create/add to your pinboards, register for free. If you have an account, you can Repin the picture to a pinboard you have titled and created within your account. Click on the image again to visit the original site of the image. Often this is just what you are looking for to learn specific details. You can also search Pinterest for specific items such as Guided Reading, File Folder Activities, or other classroom needs. Pinterest members can "follow" other users and see their new items as they add them to their pinboards. Use Pinterest on any device or computer, and there is a related Facebook app.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a resource for finding printables and other items for classroom use. Create your own pinboards for organizing classroom resources found on the web. Create pinboards for students to view and/or add to as a whole class activity, such as "things that use energy," food groups, or groups of items for primary level vocabulary/practice (clothing items, farm animals, clock faces for telling time, etc.). Maybe even create "which one does not belong?" pinboards for PreK and early grades to view and change on an interactive whiteboard and repeat at home. In higher grades, make pinboards for different subjects or units where you collect videos, images, classroom blogs and websites, etc. Share your pinboards with students and parents by putting the link on your class website. Challenge your older students to create their own pinboards as a research project. Use Pinterest to show their hobbies/passions, wise quotes, recipes that fit a specific theme, art/lyrics, or a travel Itinerary. Follow other teachers using Pinterest to see items that they are adding and using in their classrooms. Add TeachersFirst to your pinboards! Note: Take a screenshot of something you find to upload to Pinterest!

Find parent information and the ideas to help their kids reach their full potential and make learning fun. There are also many resources for classroom teachers, making the site worthwhile for both. The site is very large, and there is much to explore (articles, lesson activities, worksheets, and more). Find grade-level specific links on the left-hand side, from before Pre-School all the way to High School. Search by topic or browse by age, topic, or featured information. Other methods to browse include menus for Just Ask, Activities, Worksheets, Video, and more. Featured topics each month include back to school information, kindergarten readiness, what to expect in various grade levels, bullying, and other topics relevant to school-age children. There is also a free smartphone app. You can also sign up for the weekly newsletter including a new activity each week.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Find information on current education topics such as bullying, creative arts, and more to use in the classroom or share with parents during conferences or in classroom newsletters. Share this site with parents as a resource to help them understand academic, social, and developmental benchmarks expected with each grade level and as a resource for additional activities and worksheets to help support classroom learning. Peruse the many articles related to everything education (for both parents and teachers).

Take a virtual field trip to explore world class museums and online art institute for free! Avoid budget restrictions and field trip limitations by joining this Webby award winning site. Investigate the world of art history accompanied by two professors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Smarthistory started as a a blog featuring free audio guides, podcasts, and videos. Later it became an interactive exploration of eras, styles, and artists. Smarthistory has recently merged with KahnAcademy utilizing the same concept: that high quality education should be free and available to all. Included in each video are informational resources to give extra information. Many universities use Smarthistory as a required part of their curriculum.

In the Classroom

A must for any art classroom, Smarthistory adds an extra dimension and deeper understanding to any history, social studies, or cultural studies classroom. Use in writing workshops to provide insights to art and culture and to into thoughts and feelings. Study written works alongside the art of past time periods. Tempt students into the amazing world of art history by watching the new videos. Bring unlimited, world-class resources to each class. All of the videos are easily adaptable to an interactive whiteboard or projector. Debate clubs can study techniques and develop their own styles of debate. Gifted classes will devour this website. Provide this link on your class website to offer students extra challenge and exploration.

Public Domain Pictures is a database of pictures allowed to be used in any way that you see fit. You can also upload pictures to share. The only time to worry about a model or property release is if you choose to use an image for commercial use. Most images are free. Enjoy some time browsing pictures. Please note that a log-in (with an email address) is required to upload your own pictures. You do not need an account to download a picture for free. Be sure not to click on the "Premium Download" button, as this download is for a fee (even with the "free" photos). Scroll down a bit and click on "download picture" to download for free.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share this website on your class web page so that students have easy and legal access to pictures for their projects and presentations. Of course, you will still require proper image credits! Be sure to offer clear instructions about how to download FOR FREE. In an art or photography class, have students post their work to get exposure and recognition for their great images. Read tips for safely managing email registrations here.